To us Atlan, dueling is a sacred practice that upholds their values of honor, courage, and personal responsibility. It is a means of resolving conflicts and grievances directly and decisively and proving oneself as a worthy member of society. In a duel, an Atlan has their physical and mental prowess, as well as their moral character and ability to maintain composure under pressure, tested. Dueling has existed since the start of our nation on the isle of Erythras near a lost colony of the civilization of Atlantis almost three hundred years ago.
Dueling requires strict adherence to rules and etiquette, reinforcing our strict code of conduct and fostering a sense of discipline and respect. It also serves as a deterrent against violence, as the consequences of breaking the rules can be severe. Practice keeps up each Atlan’s physical and mental acuity in case of war or, the Gods’ forbid, a revolt.
We Atlan build camaraderie, a sense of community, and a healthy competitive spirit through lethal and non-lethal dueling. In addition, it provides an opportunity for self-improvement, as participants must continually train and hone their skills to stay competitive. Dueling is a virtuous and essential aspect of our culture, promoting personal growth, societal harmony, and the pursuit of excellence.
Forward to “ Introduction to Dueling ”
“School’s Alliance Publishing”
Luca De Villiers
1966 A.D. (80 Before the Rule of Atlan)
“Louloúdi Tis Néas Elpídas” Girl’s School
Califérne Province
Former Western Hesperia
Atlan Supremacy
Unknown Reality
January 12 th , 149 Rule of Atlan (2195 ESC)
The small garage of the Engineering Club was filled with odd machinery, workbenches, desks, and piles of paintings. Sofia l’Hammarskjold was kept busy organizing the myriad of things her Anaxa, Tamirindus Hammarskjold, kept creating. Unfortunately, she was sometimes worse than a puppy, excitable, leaving messes everywhere, and unaware of the problems she created. It sometimes annoyed the other Atlan students who shared the space, but half the time, they were impressed at the odd machines she made.
This was not one of those times.
“Don’t leave your garbage lying around the clubhouse, Hammarskjold,” one of the year 13 students suddenly declared as she held up a plastic handle that separated into six flanges that flared out from the center for six centimeters that all ended in flat blades about ten centimeters. “What the hell is this, anyway? I mean, it looks like a flat-topped mace or a stabbing blade, but it’s plastic, so that’s pretty damn useless.”
Sofia froze at the words. Oh no. I missed one, the doreia thought in a panic. She looked as the redhead in question popped up from staring at a programming terminal for the fabber. Tamirindus had filled out in the last few years, growing more like the other Atlan in musculature, having lost some of her puppy fat and grown more mature. She, however, was still shorter than the others. It was only by a few centimeters, and she was still taller than any dorei her size. Sofia thought she shouldn’t worry about it as there were Atlan adults of all different heights, but her Anaxa was very disturbed.
“Hrmm,” Tamirindus made a noise that she normally did while she was thinking. “That one… ummm.” She scratched her head and tilted it. Atlan genetic engineering had given them eidetic memories, meaning they never forgot anything, and it was in perfect clarity. But Sofia’s Anaxa often had so many ideas swirling around in her head that she often misplaced a memory if she wasn’t focused.
“If it’s a weapon, it should be made out of metal, but I don’t think it’d be very useful. Besides, It’s too damn short,” the black-haired upperclasswoman stated as she looked at it.
Sofia made a small squeak as she looked back and forth between the two Atlan women. Tamirindur tilted her head at the sound and looked at her doreia in an almost predatory manner that meant she was thinking hard. The look had a weird effect on the girl. Like most dorei, she froze in place instinctually when stared at like that. Their ancestors had been socially engineered to submit when their owners, the Politir, or their soldiers, the Maki, stared at them like that. It had then been further encoded into their genetics in the years just after the Manifest War.
That’s the meat masher she made for me, Sophia thought. The device was like a potato masher, but it was used on ground meat to separate it as it cooked in a pan to a finer degree than was possible without much work. Her Anaxa had made it in a fit of annoyance that Sofia was spending too much time making the meat to the right texture in the pan and therefore had less time for her own studies. Nevertheless, she was handed it one day and was told it should speed up things immeasurably.
It had worked quite well, much to her happiness. She used it for spaghetti and other ground meat dishes such as pasties and Shepard’s Pie, which both her Anaxa and Anaxa Catherine loved. It was even better at mashing potatoes and other vegetables as well. The other dorei was mildly jealous of the device as it saved time. This was a copy, as the other one had been worn down after several years of use. Several other kitchen appliances in their rooms were only ever seen there. Most were odd, but they all worked as her Anaxa intended.
Things were done manually in dorei towns and settlements around the system, mostly out of tradition. Sure, they had autochefs and food printing machines for interstellar voyages, but their products were disdained universally. As far as Sofia knew, most other Atlan preferred their dorei to make their food all by hand with simple tools and skill. Several of the girls here from Earth-based landholding families had two or three dorei that focused on making their meals. Those dorei were often super stuck up to Sofia, calling her an Arish bumpkin that was too poor to afford multiple dorei to make her meals. Tamirindus had wheedled it out of her one day when she caught her crying after a particularly bad bullying session from some of her Anaxa’s dorei.
That’s when the weird time-saving gadgets began to appear. Tamirindus would make them in the fabber and ask Sofia to test them. The only pure failure was a juicer that was supposed to separate the pulp from the juice. Its only drawback was the amount of waste it created with the pulp. After a week of using it, Tamirindus had checked the pile of peelings and asked how many cups of juice it had made. When Sofia had mentioned it was only about twenty, Tamirindus hadn’t said a word. Instead, she removed it and took it to the firing range, filling it full of holes with one of the Directed Energy weapons they trained on.
A normal blender showed up the next day with instructions to keep the pulp in it. Another similar device showed up the next day that was used for processing other solid foods. When Sofia had squeaked and subvocalized that she was running out of room, her Anaxa had thought about it and then rebuilt the attached kitchen to have more storage space based on their kitchens on Ares. Appliances could fold out and be put back easily. Sofia was certain that once her Anaxa hit majority in her twenties, she could sell all of this on Ares. Most dorei would love to have the time savings that she now had, even if her knife skills had suffered a little. It allowed her to cook, clean, and support her Anaxa and attend her own technical classes that she would need to be her Anaxa’s assistant later in life.
Tamirindus blinked and nodded at Sofia, breaking her freezing reflex. “Oh, that’s a kitchen tool. I made it out of a different plastic, the other one wore down, and I thought maybe I could improve it,” she said, then returned to her terminal. “Drop it in my box.” She waved her hand at a wooden box overfilled with various devices.
The other student made a moue of displeasure, “I told you not to leave your garbage lying around,” she said and threw the plastic tool at Sofia. It shot past the dorei’s hair and embedded itself into the wall. Sofia fell to her knees in fright and began to shiver, dropping the pile of her Anaxa’s stuff she was carrying, her eyes wide and hands limp with shock.
Tamirindus’s reaction was swift. She was in the face of the other Atlan as Sofia hit the ground. The redhead’s teeth were bared, and she was growling at the other girl. “What in the Gods’ names are you doing, Rozemarin Lupp? That there’s mine! You almost hit her!” Tamirindus snarled, her bright green eyes boring holes in her.
The brunette stared back at her nonchalantly, her pale grey eyes looking at her like nothing had happened. “Oh, please,” Rozemarin said with a little smirk. “If I wanted to hit her, she’d be dead, and you’d have to replace her. I’d pay for it anyway. So, it really doesn’t matter, does it?”
The redhead snarled a bit more. “That is not the point! I can’t just replace her, she’s got more value to me than just a doreia, and you know it.”
“Oh? Is it Arish poverty or the famous attachment to pets that you Hammarskjolds have?” the older girl teased. “You know the rumors where you’ve interbred with your dorei.”
Sofia began to cry softly as the two Atlans postured at one another. She closed her eyes and covered them, lowering her head to her lap in an effort to make herself smaller and less noticeable. A warmth spread on her lower legs, and she was sure she had soiled herself.
She didn’t rise to the interbreeding jab. It wasn’t factual, and there was no way it could happen with Eugenics Council watching every birth like a hawk. So instead, she focused on Sofia. “We value what little we can have on Ares! There’s not enough life support there, and each person is a precious resource.” Tamirindus said as she backed away from the older girl. Any longer, and it might provoke a Challenge. Unfortunately, she wasn’t skilled enough to take on the older girl without being injured at the very least or killed at the worst.
“Ah, you’re just a poor Arish anyway,” Rozemarin scoffed. She looked at Tamirindus backing away and smiled at her triumphantly. “At least you’re smart enough to understand you’re not able to Challenge me.”
Sofia felt arms around her, and she heard her Anaxa say, “No, I’ve got to get stronger to be able to protect the things I love.” Then she was lifted in her Anaxa’s strong arms like a child. “I’ll clean up my mess here and keep Sofia away from here as you don’t seem to be able to respect the property rights of others. But I won’t Challenge you.”
“Oh, I respect property rights. I was merely defending the club from being overrun with your insanity,” Rozemarin gestured to the myriad of projects that belonged to Tamirindus. “We’re being invaded, and the other girls asked me to put a stop to it.”
Sofia felt her Anaxa stiffen and hug her to herself, making her heart skip a beat. “Fine, I’ll keep things to a minimum. But my dorei will never be near you again,” Tamirindus said as she walked out with her in her arms.
Sofia started to cry softly and nuzzled against her Owner. She knew some wouldn’t have protected their dorei like hers did. The changing faces of the other Atlan’s dorei scared her sometimes. Most were just rotated out, but there were rumors that some were killed in accidents. Now she had proof that some of the missing dorei had been killed by Atlan as petty revenge.
“Saa, it’s ok, Sofia-mine,” her Anaxa said softly and kissed her forehead, wiping her tears away. “I’m gonna keep you safe. It’s my duty. I think she’s lost her way. We’re supposed to protect all of you, not think you’re disposable.”
Sofia nodded sleepily as the fear adrenaline left her system and she suddenly felt sleepy. “Yes, Anaxa,” she said quietly as she closed her eyes.
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“I think you need more practice at combat in the palaestra, Tami. This will keep happening in the future,” Catherine said as she sat at the table, sipping coffee and nibbling on a fresh rhubarb-strawberry tart in Tamirindus’s suite. The mounds of paintings and art had been more or less cleaned up in that the older ones had been digitized and removed to a small piece of property her parents had bought for her.
The property was only a half-hour flight away in the desert near an inland sea created by dredging a canal to an area below sea level. Revising the ecology there might take a while, but it had already reduced the temperatures. So in a hundred years, Tamirindus’ fifty acres of the desert would probably be wetlands and a forest with a small house and studio for her to do her art. A wonderful retreat and a place for her dorei to retire to on Earth until they got Ares going properly to house them on the estate.
“Oh, don’t make that face,” Catherine chided. The girl had filled out in similar ways to Tamirindus. However, not only was she taller, but her chest was bigger, much to the Arish girl’s annoyance.
“I don’t like it,” Tamirindus said, her chin on the table, looking somewhat pouty. “All the girls that get good are always being Challenged. It’s a lot of work and annoying.”
Catherine sighed. “Sit up straight. You are the only sloppy Atlan I know of,” she said, flicking Tamirindus hard against her forehead. It probably would have concussed a dorei or a human, but Tamirindus merely gave an “ow” and sat up straight.
“Fine, Mom,” Tamirindus said testily and sat up. She had finished her snack and strong coffee earlier.
Catherine narrowed her eyes at the ‘Mom’ comment but continued, “It doesn’t matter if it’s, as you put it, ‘annoying,’ we all have to do it. Imagine what would happen when we enter the War Directorship’s service, and you can’t do the basics. They practice and spar daily. You’d be sent to reform school or intensive basic training. Imagine how that would make your family feel.”
Tamirindus pouted, but she knew her friend wasn’t wrong. “I know. You’ve seen me try the combat forms. It’s like I’m fighting myself every time I get started.”
Catherine nodded. “You do seem to trip over yourself sometimes, Which is odd. You’re just as graceful as the rest of us in everything else.” She tapped the saucer her coffee cup was on, and her dorei, Daniel, filled it seconds later. He dropped in two lumps of sugar and the perfect amount of fresh cream, stirring it before returning to standing behind her chair. After the day’s fright, Sofia was resting in her room, and Daniel filled in for both servants.
“So tell me, what is it that holds you back?” her friend said, tilting her head so that her ringlets of red hair bounced just so.
Tamirindus was sure the other girl had done that on purpose as it made her feel a little funny, like butterflies in her chest. She looked away, a small blush across her nose. Focusing on a stack of new art, she let out a sigh. “The combat forms seem wrong somehow,” Tamirindus said. “I mean, I get in a stance, but when I move to the next one, it seems like….”
“Like what?” her friend prodded.
“Like I should be going to a different stance or move differently to this stance. It’s like my body just says it’s wrong. It’s hard to describe. It’s like dancing, how a certain dance feels right, and another is a chore.”
Catherine closed her eyes and sipped on her coffee. She placed it down on the saucer and fixed Tamirindus with her blue eyes. “You do know that the combat forms have been specifically designed for Atlan bodies and how we’re put together. Our joints aren’t as rigid as our human ancestors, and we’re quicker and more resilient.” There was a blank stare back from Tamirindus’s green eyes. “Oh, for the love of Ares and Vulcan, there’s nothing in your head except art, inventions, and stories, is there?”
Tamirindus looked away, slightly abashed. “I don’t like all the physical stuff, mostly. I just trip over all the exercises.”
“Unless you’re protecting someone,” Catherine said, taking another sip of tea. “I heard you moved quickly and were in Rozemarin’s face.”
“I… er… she was going to hurt Sofia,” she stammered in response, her cheeks growing red.
“Oh, I agree with you. You need to protect what’s yours, or you’ll lose it,” Catherine stated. “That being said, your protective nature doesn’t match your ability to back it.”
Tamirindus raised a finger and hesitated. “Uh, you’re right,” she said after a moment.
Catherine nodded and stood up, taking Tamirindus’s hand in her own. Then, blushing furiously, Tamirindus looked at her, “Wah? Wha? Wha?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The taller girl smiled at her, brushing her red ringlets back with her other hand. “We’re going to the small palestra to spar so I can see for myself.”
Catherine smiled, tilting her head just so, making Tamirindus’s heart skip a beat. “Um, sure,” she replied lamely.
They were both in sparring tunics ten minutes later, holding two meter-long bamboo staves. The real ones were either metal or hard marula wood, but bamboo was used here to reduce the injuries they would deal to one another.
The girls stood facing one another. Catherine had put her hair in a ponytail, while Tamirindus’s hair was too short of needing it. The taller girl had a small, confident smile on her lips. Damn, why does she look good even when she’s being cocky? Tamirindus thought as she got into her stance.
“Ready?” Catherine asked.
Tamirindus nodded with a grunt.
Tamirindus watched as Catherine twirled her bo staff effortlessly, the tip pointed directly at her. Tamirindus gripped her staff, sweat starting to bead on her forehead. This is just practice, she thought. I can do this.
Catherine stepped forward, her movements swift, graceful, and controlled. Tamirindus swung her staff in a wide arc, but Catherine easily blocked it with her own staff. Tamirindus tried to follow up with a quick jab, but Catherine was too fast, easily dodging out of the way.
“Dear, you’re not even trying,” Catherine teased. She sped up and started jabbing and making feints with the staff. Tamirindus backed up, trying to block the staff with what she had learned, but her body felt odd and awkward. It was like her instincts were telling her to do one thing, and the rote training made her doublethink every move. She jumped back to get some room between them and then lunged forward at Catherine.
She swung her staff again, this time with all her strength, but Catherine blocked it effortlessly and countered with a quick strike to Tamirindus’ midsection. “Sloppy, sloppy,” she teased. “You’re telegraphing your moves.”
Tamirindus grunted in pain, but she refused to give up. I have to land at least one blow. This is shameful, she thought.
She jabbed in a feint her staff again, hoping to catch Catherine off guard, but Catherine easily dodged the attack and landed another blow to Tamirindus’ side. Catherine backed up, easily spinning her staff as a resting move. “I’d say you’re worse than a dorei in fighting at the moment, but I’ve seen you practice, and you aren’t this bad.” She waited for Tamirindus to regain her footing. “What is it about sparring that wrecks your style?”
Shaking her head, Tamirindus began a series of jabs, feints, and strikes at the other girl that would look like a blur to any dorei watching. Catherine moved back, blocking and watching the burst of energy from her. “Good, good, that is the proper form,” she said. Dipping her staff to touch the ground as Tamirindus made a heavy sweep, it stopped the other girl’s staff cold, breaking her pattern and snapping Catherine’s bamboo staff. Tamirindus’s body continued forward and she stumbled.
Catherine flipped the remainder of her staff up and caught Tamirindus on the back of her neck, slamming her face first into the fighting mat.
“Fuck!” Tamirindus said, and she lay there momentarily before her friend helped her up. Her nose was bleeding all over her face and neck.
“Ah, it’s broken,” Catherine said. “Hold still.”
Tamirindus did so, and she felt her friend grip her nose and snap it back into place with her fingers. “Ow!” she complained at the sharp pain that immediately lessened as her body’s regeneration began repairing the damage and stopping the bleeding.
Daniel was there almost immediately with a hot wet towel for Tamirindus’s face and warm, dry ones for their bodies. “Anaxas,” he said with a smile as he bowed.
“I thought I had you,” Tamirindus complained, wiping the blood off her skin.
Catherine shook her head, “I was controlling that fight from the beginning.” She sighed, “It looks like my work is cut out for me. I’m only a middle-of-the-pack fighter, and all the girls that you have issues with are better than me.”
Handing the bloody towel back to Catherine’s dorei, she raised an eyebrow at her friend. “What do you mean?”
The other girl smiled wolfishly back at her. “We’re going to spar every day until you can beat me, and I’m going to find out why your body is fighting the training.”
“But my…”
“Your club activities and inventing are on hold until you can beat the Lupp girl or she graduates,” her friend said with a smile. “Or would you like to die in a Challenge after Sofia is ‘accidentally’ harmed by her?”
Tamirindus’ face went into a snarl. “No one hurts what’s mine,” she said low and threateningly.
Catherine made a quiet clap, tilted her head, and gave a closed-eyed smile, “Wonderful. Then we’ll start tomorrow practicing morning.”
Tamirindus grunted and looked away. “I’ll go to bed early.”
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Having finally fallen asleep after returning to her room, Tamirindus now grumpily floated among sunset-colored clouds. Golden lights crowded her trying to tickle her into a good mood. Sofia was awake but a little skittish around her. There was a different look in the doreia’s eyes this night, and Tamirindus was certain it was because she wasn’t able to protect her directly.
“I need to get better at fighting,” she said to the cloud of lights. They were buzzing around her, getting between her and her night clothes in an attempt to make her giggle. They had begun to act like this after she didn’t follow them to the first place they had begun pulling her to.
At her words, they changed patterning. The cloud began to swirl in different directions like it was searching. Tendrils made of thousands of tiny motes of golden light shot out to different clouds here and there.
“What are you bugs up to?” she asked quietly as they seemed to pull back tendrils, and the lights began flashing in odd patterns. It was almost as if they were communicating with one another, like the fireflies at the school’s ponds.
She shoved her head into a dense mass of them, and they buzzed against the bounds of what she perceived as her body here. What research she had been able to look up was a condemnation of some psychobabble by an insane Rus woman from three centuries ago. Something called astral projection, where she believed people could travel without their bodies to the realms of the gods.
Pure insanity. She might’ve had the same kind of dreams that Tamirindus was currently having. But so far, Tamirindus hadn’t been able to see anyone she could see her let alone talk to. And everyone knew that the Gods were probably not real even though the State still sponsored worship of them as pillars of the State itself. Modern worshipers really just paid lip service to them as concepts and ideals. No one thought one of them would answer any prayers. At least no one she knew admitted to it.
Still, her body here was mostly made of light, and she could fly. She didn’t think that if she “died,” here it would do anything more than wake her up. The few times she thought she was in danger, she had woken up with a start and felt weird for a day or so but had recovered fairly quickly. The bugs had changed the flashing in a pattern like they were considering something. It was a slow pattern in eight parts of the cloud and was quite fascinating to watch.
Tamirindus smiled at them and moved her body to lay on a cloud, resting her chin in her hands. “Besides, it’s not like you could help me get better at fighting in the real world,” she said with her lopsided smile. “I can’t fly when I’m awake.” The bugs suddenly turned all one solid color and swarmed around her.
“Whoah, whoa, whoa!” Tamirindus yelled as she felt them press against her and drag her quickly through the clouds. She flailed out of control as she sped past several cloudbanks. Then they were past a floating island with a claptrap set of buildings and flying ships she had never seen before in a flash.
“Wait! I wanna see those!” she squeaked as they left then and dove into a dark set of clouds with green lightning and … something that was living in it. She caught sight of leathery skin, fins, and tendrils before they were past it. She quieted as she felt its presence turn towards them and lose interest when they were too fast.
“Poseidon, what was that?” she whispered just before they hit another cloudbank. Then, they went through another set of clouds with debris like parts of trees and chunks of rock floating in it like a tornado.
Am I going to one of the nightmares? Tamirindus thought in a sudden fear. There had been a few places. Dead versions of Earth that had been destroyed by nuclear fire or environmental disaster. She had only visited one for a moment that looked like a lunar landscape. A world with no atmosphere and odd pyramids that felt horrible. She was sure there were things watching her around every rock and was happy that she hadn’t stayed there as she had been woken early by her mother.
As she was pondering this, they went into a cloud and abruptly popped into existence on a street in winter. She stood there looking around lamely at a small Hesperian town from two centuries earlier. There were people walking around the town in old-fashioned clothing and old cars in the street with her.
She leaped forward and skipped out of the car’s path, hopping over the small fence separating the pedestrians from the street. “What? Did we travel back in time!” Tamirindus squeaked in glee.
She ran forward to look in the windows of the stores. One had toys, neat, but not what she was looking for. She turned and hopped up to look at the feral humans in their faces, waving her hands in front of them. No reaction, as usual. She ran to another store, this one full of books. The script was similar to Hesperian and Atlan but, at the same time, all wrong. “Ah, another close dream. “How come I can’t get the writing right ever?” She tilted her head at the conversations. It did sound like Hesperian Anglish somewhat.
Putting her hands behind her head, Tamirindus walked stiffly around people until she found herself in front of a shop with a wall of primitive vidscreens. They were reporting some sort of thing in an older-style Hesperian city. The pretty wench of the vid was reading off a script while a picture of a car wreck was in a box to her right. She was counterpointed by a handsome buck who seemed to have the same job. She smiled, thinking that her mom would be all over one like that, with her dad saying they didn’t have the life support for one that wasn’t also an astroengineer t help with the terraforming.
The proverbial hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she turned around quickly to look around, focusing up. A woman on top of the roof was dressed all in black with white hair and light blue eyes staring at her in shock. AT her. Not nearby, but at her. Her skin was underlit with a dull brass glow, and dimmer fireflies lazily floated around her as well.
Their eyes met for a second, and the next thing she knew, she was in an alley between buildings sitting on a pile of snow, arms around her knees, hyperventilating in fear. Oh, gods, she saw me. She really saw me! Tamirindus thought in a panic. No, no, that can’t be right. No one ever sees me.
Tamirindus unfolded slowly and then moved to look around the building’s edge up to the roof. Nothing. She looked around the streets. One of the older ferals yelled excitedly and pointed up at the sky. Most of the other ferals were ignoring her. She followed the woman’s finger and looked around. The dull brass glow was slowly flying away. Flying? Wait, no, she squinted. She has a flight pack!
She began running after her. The woman kept weaving between trees until she hit the edge of town. The town was around a lake and in the middle of a forest but had very few buildings over two stories. The dull gold glow made it easier for her to keep track of the flying woman. She followed the woman in the air by following her hiding in the side of the road tree line. She wasn’t sure if the woman could speak with her, but she was surely going to find out!
She soon lost sight of the woman, leaving her alone in a mountainous forest. “Well, shit,” Tamirindus cursed. “At least I’m not cold,” she mused. The environments where she found herself in her dreams rarely caused her issues except for the moonscape and the other radioactive world. The small lights around here slowly swirled in a cloud, lighting up the forest for her eyes.
Taking in a huge, unneeded breath, Tamirindus leaned against a tree. Plant life had enough support that she could use them to lean against or to sit on without much energy. But, unfortunately, people could walk through her, making her feel weird. There was this barrier just before they touched her that she had learned to avoid. However, the one around plants was comforting and solid.
“Well, damn. This is going to be a boring dream if nothing happens. Especially since I thought I had someone to talk to,” she muttered.
There was a rustling in the bushes, and the head of one of the feathered dinosaurs she’d observed before popped out. This one was a little smaller, about a meter and a half high at the shoulder, and covered in downy white feathers. She blinked as it turned its head and cocked it towards her.
Grawwwk!
She flinched as it hopped toward her and landed at the tree’s base passing through her like a ghost. Its four-toed foot nimbly grasped the trunk and pushed off towards another tree.
Recovering, Tamirindus turned and watched it as it made sure not to touch the snow. “What? You don’t look like you belong here,” she said and followed it. She had seen large fences in dreams with creatures like these to keep them out, whether by rival dinosaur tribes or by the primates they hunted.
Were her dreams starting to collide? This was new and interesting. Tamirindus followed the creature as it hopped here and there. It eventually came to a small cave, and it entered. There was blood at the entrance and pine needles and branches lining the floor. She whispered, “Excuse me,” as she entered the cave, following. Inside, the creature moved towards a second one that had made a nest of pine boughs.
They cooed and crooned at one another in guttural sounds that sounded like a cross between reptiles and large birds like an emu. The one on the nest got up, and Tamirindus could see two eggs. The entering one inspected the eggs and then nuzzled the other one before gingerly sitting on the eggs.
“Oho, you just had young. That’s gonna cause problems,” Tamirindus said as she moved closer and inspected the nest. It was surprisingly clean, with cracked bones and viscera away from the nest itself. The bones of dogs, goats, and a bear were piled nearby. “I mean, you’d be fun to hunt and mess with back home, but I think these ferals are just human. They’re going to have to learn to deal with smart predators like you.”
The two creatures froze and pointed their beaks toward her and the cave entrance behind her. Tamirundus blinked and peered at them. Nah, you can’t see or sense me, she thought dismissively as the one that had been on the eggs when she had entered ran past her and lowered itself to the ground.
She turned around and walked to the cave entrance when she heard the distant barks of a dog. “Huh,” she said. “Someone’s out night hunting?”
The white feathered creature looked over its shoulder and made a croak. An answering croak had it turn its head back, and it leaped out of the cave. Tamirindus followed it as the Atlan hunting instinct kicked in.
Might as well see what this thing’s capable of, she reasoned as she ran after it as the creature hopped between the trees towards the sound of barking. Trees rushed past her as she kept up with the beast. Her grandfather told her that a human couldn’t keep this pace, especially not through the terrain they were covering.
It stopped and lowered itself in a hunting crouch. Then, out in the darkness, Tamirindus saw a feral human female walking slowly with a small shotgun and a dig sniffing the ground before her. The creature lowered itself and moved slowly behind the two. She followed and saw that it was focused on the dog. “Aww, poor pooch, but I guess it’s better than losing the feral.”
She watched as the beast lowered and flexed its legs, springing forward as quickly as a snake. These were magnificent predators and would be fun to hunt. Better than the uplifted chimpanzees they called goblins, those were smart, could use tools, and were nasty to deal with. Relentless and sneaky, they had been released in parts of the former Hesperian resistance areas to drive the remaining feral humans out. Now they were an entrenched pest.
The dinosaur opened its mouth wide and grasped with its small forelimbs. Tamirindus saw the dull brass glow out of the corner of her eyes just before she saw the flowing form and quick moves of an Atlan warrior wielding a blue, glowing staff come out of the shadows to strike the beast.
Goosebumps formed on her nonexistent skin, and her hair stood up as she watched the staff spin and slam the dinosaur under its torso, flinging it towards a tree. The woman was clad in black that drank in normal light, and if she hadn’t been in Tamirindus’s dream, she wasn’t sure she would have seen her. Instead, she whooped in joy Zat seeing her again and having watched the martial display, and the woman turned her head toward her quickly, making eye contact for a second and deliberately looking away.
Screaming and barking accompanied a pop as the feral human fired her gun, and the woman lurched forward. The beast took this as a signal to leave and lurched to its feet. The black-clad woman with dull brass fireflies around her moved smoother than she had ever seen any Atlan. She flowed into a form with the staff that struck the beast’s left leg. It moved its leg as it hissed and made a raking attack aimed at her stomach faster than she had seen it move before.
Ah, she’s dead, Tamirindus started to think as the woman leaped over the leg and slammed the staff in a spin on its back and tail. She watched an unknown blue energy crackle over the creature. It faltered and tried to run, leaping forward. Another slower person who was wearing the same dark clothing came from behind a tree and lifted a rifle that fired the same blue energy at the creature. It made a weird vorp VORP vorp sound as it fired. Two of the shots took out the feral and her dog.
The beast slid and hit a tree in a tangled heap of limbs. The second person walked up and pointed it directly at the creature’s head, and fired twice more. Tamirindus looked at him and saw that he was hard to see. His edges were fuzzy, like he was out of focus or someone had erased his edges. Even without the dark clothing, she swore he was eating light. Unlike the local language, they started talking to one another in a harsh guttural language.
“Also, ich denke, wir sollten besser wechseln,” the man said as he touched the woman. Tamirindus noticed that the dull brass blow os her fireflies diffed when he touched her. “Ich muss das Lokal zurückgeben und die anderen davon abhalten, sich das anzusehen.”
Well, that was interesting , she thought as she moved closer to them. She looked and saw the woman more clearly. She had long, thin ears, and her face had the patterning of a cat. Her eyes grew wide, and her heart started beating in excitement. She backed off to watch them as she thought, Not an Atlan, but a cat person? Oh wow, my brain is coming up with all sorts of fun things!
As the man moved closer to Tamirindus, she started to feel a bit tired, like she was being drained. She backed off a bit of a distance as they chatted in whatever language they spoke, and the man smoked a cigarette. After rifling through the feral’s pockets, the pseudoAtlanCat lady tossed two gems in the air and pocketed them. Looting your captures, a very Atlan behavior! she thought. Part of her began to ache with covetousness. I want her. If I can own a dream, I want to own her. She blinked in surprise at the sudden emotion and how strong it was. I'll probably never see her again. My dreams are random. But If I do...
She was snapped out of her thoughts when the woman leaned over. She picked up both the dog and the feral woman easily. She moved with an easy slinky strength that made Tamirindus jealous, and her greed for this person grow a little. Several people that were not human but rather bear- and tiger-men came forward from the snow, carrying a sled they loaded the beast onto. The light-drinking man talked to them, and they strapped the beast on tight. He stood in the darkness for a moment, looking around suspiciously.
One of her fireflies lazily floated near him, and it grew fainter. It tried to move away, but he caught it between his thumb and forefinger. The light struggled, but he gripped harder, and it went out with a light pop. He lit a second cigarette and smiled into the darkness.
“Ich rieche dich,” he said in a tone that made her shiver. She could have almost sworn his eyes reflected a dull red light before he turned and followed the woman deeper into the forest.